Science: GOP voters better informed, more open-minded

Yet another new survey shows that Republican supporters know more about politics and political history than Democrats.

On eight of 13 questions about politics, Republicans outscored Democrats by an average of 18 percentage points, according to a new Pew survey âPartisan Differences in Knowledge.â

The Pew survey adds to a wave of surveys and studies showing that GOP-sympathizers are better informed, more intellectually consistent, more open-minded, more empathetic and more receptive to criticism than their fellow Americans who support the Democratic Party.

âRepublicans fare substantially better than Democrats on several questions in the survey, as is typically the case in surveys about political knowledge,â said the study, which noted that Democrats outscored Republicans on five questions by an average of 4.6 percent.

The widest partisan gap in the survey came in at 30 points when only 46 percent of Democrats â but 76 percent of Republicans â- correctly described the GOP as âthe party generally more supportive of reducing the size of federal government.â

The widest difference that favored Democrats was only 8 percent, when 59 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Democrats recognized the liberal party as âmore support of reducing the defense budget.â

However, Pewâs data suggests that the Democratsâ low average rating likely is a consequence of its bipolar political coalition, which combines well-credentialed post-graduate progressives who score well in quizzes with a much larger number of poorly educated supporters, who score badly.

For example, the survey reported that 90 percent of college grads recognized the GOP as the party most supportive of cutting the federal government. But that number fell to 54 percent of people with a high-school education or less.

In contrast, the Republican party coalition is more consistent, and has few poorly educated people and fewer post-graduates.

Pewâs new study echoes the results of many other reports and studies that show GOP-supporters are better educated, more empathetic and more open to criticism than Democrats.

A March 12 Pew study showed that Democrats are far more likely that conservatives to disconnect from people who disagree with them.

âIn all, 28% of liberals have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on SNS [social networking sites] because of one of these reasons, compared with 16% of conservatives and 14% of moderates,â said the report, tiled âSocial networking sites and politics.â

The report also noted that 11 percent of liberals, but only 4 percent of conservatives, deleted friends from networks after disagreeing with their politics.

A March Washington Post poll showed that Democrats were more willing to change their views about a subject to make their team look good. For example, in 2006, 73 percent of Democrats said the GOP-controlled White House could lower gas prices, but that number fell by more than half to 33 percent in 2012 once a fellow Democrat was in the White House.

In contrast, the opinions of GOP supporters were more consistent. Their collective opinion shifted by only a third, according to the data. In 2006, 47 percent in believed the White House could influence gas prices. By 2012, that number had risen to 65 percent up 17 points compared to the Democratsâ 40 point shift.

Much of this polling and survey work has been backed up by novel research from the University of Virginia.

UVA researchers have used a massive online survey to show that conservatives better understand the ideas of liberals than vice versa. The results are described in a new book by UVA researcher Jonathan Haidt, âWhy Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.â

The book uses a variety of data to argue that conservatives have a balanced set of moral intuitions, while liberals are focused on aiding victims, fairness and individual liberty. Conservatives recognize how liberals think because they share those intuitions, but liberals donât understand how conservatives think because they donât recognize conservativesâ additional intuitions about loyalty, authority and sanctity, Haidt argues.

The academicsâ work is also being backed up by commercial research into the tastes and political views of potential customers.

For example, researchers have learned that Internet sites offering financial information, sports scores, online-auctions attract far more interest from Republicans than from Democrats, according to a 2010 study by National Media Research, Planning and Placement, based in Alexandria, Va.

This commercial data-analysis is often used by companies to identify and attract customers. For example, the firm also conducted a study of chain restaurantsâ customers which concluded that the customers of Popeyes, White Castle, Dunkinâ Donuts and Chuck E Cheese were mostly Democratic, while the customers at Cracker Barrel, Chik-fil-A, Panera and Bob Evans were mostly Republican.

The same restaurants study showed that the the customers at Cracker Barrel, Panera and Bob Evans were the most likely to vote in elections.

Both parties suck pretty badly. I guarantee that nothing of substance will change if Romney replaces Obama.

Those liberals who thought Obama would keep us out of wars and uphold the Bill of Rights were certainly fooled. And anybody who thinks Romney will bring fiscal responsibility to the federal government is being fooled even more.

Yet another new survey shows that Republican supporters know more about politics and political history than Democrats.

On eight of 13 questions about politics, Republicans outscored Democrats by an average of 18 percentage points, according to a new Pew survey âPartisan Differences in Knowledge.â

The Pew survey adds to a wave of surveys and studies showing that GOP-sympathizers are better informed, more intellectually consistent, more open-minded, more empathetic and more receptive to criticism than their fellow Americans who support the Democratic Party.

âRepublicans fare substantially better than Democrats on several questions in the survey, as is typically the case in surveys about political knowledge,â said the study, which noted that Democrats outscored Republicans on five questions by an average of 4.6 percent.

The widest partisan gap in the survey came in at 30 points when only 46 percent of Democrats â but 76 percent of Republicans â- correctly described the GOP as âthe party generally more supportive of reducing the size of federal government.â

The widest difference that favored Democrats was only 8 percent, when 59 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Democrats recognized the liberal party as âmore support of reducing the defense budget.â

However, Pewâs data suggests that the Democratsâ low average rating likely is a consequence of its bipolar political coalition, which combines well-credentialed post-graduate progressives who score well in quizzes with a much larger number of poorly educated supporters, who score badly.

For example, the survey reported that 90 percent of college grads recognized the GOP as the party most supportive of cutting the federal government. But that number fell to 54 percent of people with a high-school education or less.

In contrast, the Republican party coalition is more consistent, and has few poorly educated people and fewer post-graduates.

Pewâs new study echoes the results of many other reports and studies that show GOP-supporters are better educated, more empathetic and more open to criticism than Democrats.

A March 12 Pew study showed that Democrats are far more likely that conservatives to disconnect from people who disagree with them.

âIn all, 28% of liberals have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone on SNS [social networking sites] because of one of these reasons, compared with 16% of conservatives and 14% of moderates,â said the report, tiled âSocial networking sites and politics.â

The report also noted that 11 percent of liberals, but only 4 percent of conservatives, deleted friends from networks after disagreeing with their politics.

A March Washington Post poll showed that Democrats were more willing to change their views about a subject to make their team look good. For example, in 2006, 73 percent of Democrats said the GOP-controlled White House could lower gas prices, but that number fell by more than half to 33 percent in 2012 once a fellow Democrat was in the White House.

In contrast, the opinions of GOP supporters were more consistent. Their collective opinion shifted by only a third, according to the data. In 2006, 47 percent in believed the White House could influence gas prices. By 2012, that number had risen to 65 percent up 17 points compared to the Democratsâ 40 point shift.

Much of this polling and survey work has been backed up by novel research from the University of Virginia.

UVA researchers have used a massive online survey to show that conservatives better understand the ideas of liberals than vice versa. The results are described in a new book by UVA researcher Jonathan Haidt, âWhy Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.â

The book uses a variety of data to argue that conservatives have a balanced set of moral intuitions, while liberals are focused on aiding victims, fairness and individual liberty. Conservatives recognize how liberals think because they share those intuitions, but liberals donât understand how conservatives think because they donât recognize conservativesâ additional intuitions about loyalty, authority and sanctity, Haidt argues.

The academicsâ work is also being backed up by commercial research into the tastes and political views of potential customers.

For example, researchers have learned that Internet sites offering financial information, sports scores, online-auctions attract far more interest from Republicans than from Democrats, according to a 2010 study by National Media Research, Planning and Placement, based in Alexandria, Va.

This commercial data-analysis is often used by companies to identify and attract customers. For example, the firm also conducted a study of chain restaurantsâ customers which concluded that the customers of Popeyes, White Castle, Dunkinâ Donuts and Chuck E Cheese were mostly Democratic, while the customers at Cracker Barrel, Chik-fil-A, Panera and Bob Evans were mostly Republican.

The same restaurants study showed that the the customers at Cracker Barrel, Panera and Bob Evans were the most likely to vote in elections.

Ha ha! The Daily Caller? (gotta love it, they have a special guns and gear section) Got any unbiased articles about this? Any references to the study, I can't find any, or anything on the Pew website. Even after plugging in the article title ll I found was this...

Partisan Differences in Knowledge

On most questions partisan differences are slight. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to correctly answer three of the 11 questions.

Seven-in-ten Republicans (70%) know that public employee union rights were the subject of protests in Wisconsin, compared with 58% of Democrats. Republicans are more likely to know that the GOP controls the House (49% vs. 33%) and that coal is the leading source of U.S. electricity (44% vs. 34%).

So where is this so-called Pew Study ? Why is there no link to it or reference?

And Sheila Jackson Lee (D), who'd served on the House Science Committee and on the subcommittee that oversees space policy, asked during a visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory whether the Mars Pathfinder had taken a photograph of the flag planted on Mars by Neil Armstrong in 1969.